Report: VCUSD official released confidential information

The Solano County Grand Jury recommended last month that the Vallejo City Unified School District Board of Education investigate and take appropriate action after a VCUSD official emailed confidential student information to an official at the Vallejo Police department, the mayor of Vallejo and the Solano County District Attorney.

In a five-page report, the grand jury found that a VCUSD official sent the email which "(identified) minor student's names and further confidential information to an individual who should not have been privy to this information in an apparent violation of the California Welfare and Institution Code."

The report was issued after the grand jury investigated an incident involving two minors and the possession of a pellet gun near the Vallejo Plunge last February.

One of the minors was found to be in possession of the pellet gun and was arrested on VCUSD grounds by Vallejo police, while the other minor was released to Vallejo High School officials, according to the grand jury report.

The report states that after the incident, a VCUSD official contacted an individual in the Vallejo Police Department, "stating that the district was upset that police were on campus without the school district's permission."

The report further states, "During the call, the VCUSD official conveyed the school district's opinion of the reason for the arrest was to support a systematic program being instituted by the Vallejo Police Department to make student arrest, to further the police department's political agenda."

The district official then "demanded" arrest information regarding the minors, as well as the names of the arresting officers, the report states.

According to the grand jury, the VCUSD official then sent the email containing the confidential information, which was also sent to the VCUSD Board of Education.

"The grand jury further learned that not all of the members of the VCUSD Board were aware of the email," the report states.

The grand jury recommended that the VCUSD Board of Education "investigate the event and take appropriate action" and "develop and implement procedures to prevent a recurrence of this type of incident."

VCUSD Board President A.C. "Tony" Ubalde, Jr. said that he could not comment regarding the grand jury report since he has a conflict of interest as a chaplain with the Vallejo Police Department and as a member of the VCUSD board.

The VCUSD Board of Education is required to submit a response to the grand jury, according to the report.

The grand jury report comes on the heels of a previous grand jury report from June which highlighted that Vallejo High School and Jesse Bethel High school have higher dropout, truancy and suspension rates than eight other local high schools.

"The number of offenses reported regarding disruption and defiance at (Vallejo and Jesse Bethel high schools) is alarming and must be addressed!" stated the grand jury in a report titled, "Security Impact on Graduation Rates in Solano County High Schools."

The report praised VCUSD for increasing its graduation rate during the last two years, though Vallejo and Bethel still lag well behind the other eight schools.